Middle Peak Loop Trail

Middle Peak Loop Trail is a 5.9 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Descanso, California that features a lake. The trail is rated as moderate and primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and birding.

Derek O.

The best part of this trail is the Sugar Pine trail section that starts across the street from the Lake Cuyamaca Restaurant and goes to the fire road close to the top of the peak. If you're interested in peaking it, the .2 miles to the top is very difficult because it's extremely over grown.

Would almost say this trail is more "easy" than "moderate" mainly because the incline is not too drastic. The length I can agree with can be lengthy. At one point you can see the lake which is pretty awesome. There aren't many views but it can be very scenic and great for birding!

Only 3 stars in my book for these reasons. - mostly fire road with two single track trails along the way -not alot of trees, most of them dead from fires -no trail to the summit itself. That was the biggest disappointed. -best views of the lake were early on the way up but no views from near the top. If your doing the loop you just missed the only photo op -I ve hiked dozens of peaks in San Diego County and none were more disappointing then this one Pros-got out at 10 am and saw zero other hikers along the way -only hike I've actually spotted wild animals in broad daylight. Saw 3 deer and also a fox.

It's quiet, cool, and uncrowded. To me, those are the best things a trail could be. I went during the week so there's plenty of free parking. The path is well marked and maintained. Very green, considering it's San Diego and we're in a drought.
It's not perfect, though. The big trees burned and felled by the fires were kinda sad. The brush is really high so the views are a bit more obstructed than I anticipated. Stonewall Peak has nicer views. The upside of that is that it's quite shady.

There are at least four different ways this loop can be completed, none of which will give the hiker much visual stimulation. It's a nice workout with a couple of places where there are pleasing vistas. The route I chose, though appearing as a road, is actually a very old road that has nearly gone back to nature. Most of the track, on the east side, is narrow and surrounded by very tall brush, so there isn't much to see in those stretches. On the west side it opens up a bit more, but still doesn't afford more than average views.